Cranium

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Description:

The cranium is the skeleton of the head consisting the cranial and facial bones. It is a composite structure consisting of 29 bones, when counting the ear ossicles and hyoid bone, or 22 without counting these bones. The bones of the cranium range from simple, non-descript plates of bone to the most intricate, complex bones of the skeleton. The bones of the cranium have a range of important functions. These functions include protecting the delicate brain tissue, fixing the vestibular apparatus of the inner ear in three dimensional space, maintaining open air passageways for respiration, and acquiring and processing food to name a few. It can be divided into two main regions - the cranial vault is the region that surrounds and encases the brain; the face is the area contributing to the orbits, nasal cavity, and oral cavity.